SAVAGE WORLDS UNLIMITED (PDF)

SAVAGE WORLDS: UNLIMITED
What follows is an adaptation of Palladium’s HEROES UNLIMITED to the Savage Worlds system.
Characters are built as they normally would be in the Savage Worlds: Super Powers Companion, with
one exception – the selection of Super Powers. In SW, powers are chosen by the player and purchased a
la carte from a large list. Using the system below, you randomly roll for which powers you have,
stemming from the (also randomly-rolled) origin of your character.
HOW TO USE THESE RULES: First, use the “Arcane Background Origins” table to determine the origin of
your super hero. Then make your character as normal, modified by the special rules for that origin type.
Each Origin then has instructions on how to determine which powers are “unlocked.”
Using the random roll charts, you will create a list of which powers are available for you to purchase,
and with what restrictions or modifications. You then build your character as normal for the SW system,
only you are restricted to only spending your Power Points on those powers (and in whatever specific
manner your origin and random rolls tell you to).
In the event that you have spent all possible points on your list of unlocked powers and still have points
left over, you may spend any remaining points on any powers or modifications previously restricted to
you, in order to finish rounding out your character.
The goal of this system is not arbitrary restriction; it is to be an aid in creativity. By adhering to the
random charts, you can generate a character that is unusual, unique, and interesting – and might not be
something you would have created without the restrictions in place. If something isn’t fun, GMs and
Players alike should throw it out and replace it with something that is.
ARCANE BACKGROUND ORIGINS (roll d12):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Alien
Bionics
Experiment
Magic
Mutant
Physical Training
Robotics
Special Training
Immortal
Super Invention
Natural Genius
Symbiote

ALIENS
Alien characters are strange visitors from another world with powers and abilities far beyond those of
mortal men. Such characters often have access to wondrous technology as well, and seek to use these
many advantages to take on the mantle of the super-heroic. Aliens can be quite varied, but this power
category specifically covers heroes whose main suite of super-powers comes from their alien nature. It
is quite possible to have heroes of other power categories who happen to be aliens; but in those cases,
just use those categories and choose a race other than human. This category is for aliens who have such
vast abilities that a simple race selection won’t do. Examples: Martian Manhunter, Silver Surfer
1. Step 1: Race. Unlike normal characters, you are not human, nor do you select a different race.
Instead, you are an unusual alien species, whose appearance and home world you determine by
rolling on the charts below.
Alien Appearance (roll d100):
o
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o
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01-20: Human-like. Can pass for human. Free Novice Edge.
21-40: Humanoid. Resembles humans but with slight changes. Free Novice Edge, plus roll
1d4 times on the Unusual Characteristics table in the Mutant section. Also roll for unusual
ear shape and/or skin color:
 01-07: Tiny ears.
 08-16: Large or strangely shaped ears (pointy, etc.)
 17-35: Normal human skin tone.
 36-00: Odd Skin Color:
 01-10: Yellow
 11-20: Green
 21-30: Red
 31-40: Grey
 41-50: Light Blue
 51-60: Stark White
 61-70: Dark Blue
 71-80: Coal Black
 81-90: Purple
 91-00: Orange
41-45: Humanoid Insect Appearance. +2 Armor, Claws do Str+d6 damage, Leaper, Cannot
Speak.
46-51: Classic Stereotypical Alien Appearance. Starts with d6 in Agility.
52-56: Humanoid Skeletal. Starts with d6 in Agility, +2 Pace (and running die increased by
one type), but has a -2 Charisma

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57-61: Humanoid Amphibian. Aquatic trait (cannot drown, moves at full Swimming speed,
free d6 in Swimming).
62-64: Vegetation. No Vital Organs, Regeneration, +2 Armor, Dependency: Sunlight.
65-66: Humanoid Pig. +1 Toughness, Keen Sense of Smell (+2 Notice w/ Smell)
67-70: Humanoid Atroxian. Snake-like. Bite attack which deals Str+d6 damage, victim must
roll Vigor or suffer 1 Fatigue level for an hour (up to Incapacitated, not death); -1 Toughness.
71-73: Humanoid Reptilian. +1 Toughness, Claws deal Str+d6 damage.
74-76: Humanoid Canine. +2 Pace (and increase running die one type), Keen Sense of Smell
(+2 Notice with smell), Starts with d6 in Tracking, Racial Enemy (-4 Charisma when dealing
with any feline-like race, including regular cats).
77-79: Humanoid Avian. Keen sense of Sight (+2 Notice with sight), Can fly at standard Pace
(Climb 0), -1 Toughness.
80-82: Humanoid Mineral. Hardy, Slow.
83-85: Humanoid Feline. Starts with d6 Agility, Low-Light Vision, Claws do Str+d6 damage,
Racial Enemy (-4 Charisma when dealing with any canine-like race, including regular dogs).
86-88: Humanoid Ape. Starts with d6 Strength.
89-90: Humanoid Elephant. Starts with d6 Strength, +1 Toughness, -1 Parry.
91-92: Humanoid Bison. Starts with d6 Strength, Horns do Str+d6 Damage, Slow.
93-94: Humanoid Rhinoceros. Starts with d6 Strength, Horn does Str+d6 Damage, Slow.
95-96: Demonic Appearance. Claws or Horns do Str+d6 damage, +2 Charisma.
97-98: Artificial Life Form/Android. Construct trait (from SW: SFC, not the super power),
but appears human. Dependency (Power), Environmental Weakness: Electricity and
Magnetism (-4 penalty to resist, takes 4 extra damage from attacks), must take “Vow” as a
Major hindrance (with no offsetting points) to reflect some specific programming.
99-00: Humanoid Aquatic. Aquatic.

Physiological Modifications due to Unearthly Environments (Roll d100):
o
o

o

o
o
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01-05: Normal Earth-like Environment. No changes.
06-14: High Gravity. Start with d6 Strength (if Alien Appearance already gives d6 Strength,
then it starts as d8 and may raise to d12+2 via normal advancement; Expert/Master Edges
can make d12+4), Attribute Penalty: Agility rolls suffer -1.
15-21: Low Gravity. Start with d6 Agility (if Alien Appearance already gives d6 Agility, then it
starts as a d8 and may raise to d12+2 via normal advancement; Expert/Master Edges can
make d12+4), Slow (stacks with other instances of Slow), Frail.
22-30: High Radiation. +4 to resist/armor against Radiation Hazards, exposure to character
is Low Radiation Hazard for others unless character wears shielded suit, etc.
31-40: Frozen World. +4 to resist Cold Hazard, -4 to resist Heat Hazard.
41-50: Toxic Atmosphere. Doesn’t Breathe, Immune to Poison & Disease, Dependency
(toxic gasses, requires at least 1 hour per day exposure to atmosphere similar to home or
Fatigues each day until Incapacitated, then dies next day).

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51-60: Vegetation World. Free d6 in Climbing skill, evolved smaller so Small trait (-1
toughness).
61-70: Thermo World. +4 to resist Heat Hazard, -4 to resist Cold Hazard.
71-80: Twilight World. Low-light Vision, but bright light inflicts the same penalties on this
character as Dark lighting does on normal characters.
81-90: Aquatic World. Semi-Aquatic trait, Environmental weakness (dry heat).
91-00: Abrasive Atmosphere. Regeneration trait (SW: SFC), -1 Penalty to Agility checks.

2. Step 2: Super Powers! Roll once on the Major chart and twice on the Minor chart. Special Bonus:
Alien characters may add the “Device” trait to any powers not unlocked from a Major chart roll,
reflecting special alien technology they may have. It is up to the player and GM to decide whether
those powers are standard for all members of your alien species, or if the character is super even
among their own kind.
3. Step 3: Traits, Edges and Hindrances. Alien characters may take Edges from the SW: SFC book, and
should especially consider the Edge “Geared Up” for reasons explained in step 4, below.
4. Step 4: Gear. Alien characters are generally better-geared than their human counterparts, and
special alien gear is usually a big part of these characters. Alien characters may use their starting
funds to purchase equipment and weapons from the SW: SFC book. For other weird alien gear, see
Step 4: Super Powers.
5. Step 5: Background Details. Use the charts below:
Reason for Coming to Earth (Roll d100):
o

o

o

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01-19: Last of a race of people. Roll d100:
 01-25: Earth reminds you of home.
 25-50: It’s a nice place.
 51-75: To save mankind from itself!
 76-00: Crash-landed and ship destroyed, no hope of leaving.
20-38: Crash landed! Trapped on Earth, roll d100:
 01-20: Earth is an unpleasant world filled with barbarians!
 21-40: Earth is nice, you like it here.
 41-60: Earth reminds you of home.
 61-80: Earth is okay, but a bit primitive.
 81-00: Undecided, but have nowhere else to go.
39-55: Outcast! Fugitive, possibly pursued. Selected Earth because (roll d100):
 01-20: It’s more primitive so life should be easy.
 21-40: To be free of home world’s prejudice.
 41-60: It’s nice here.
 61-80: It’s easier to hide here.
 81-00: You’re lost and this place seems as good as any.
56-70: Intergalactic Champion of Justice! You came to protect Earth because (roll d100):

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01-20: Earth needs guidance to become a member of the intergalactic community.
21-40: Caught your eye; you like Earth and its people.
41-60: Like Earth, but are very paternal and protective.
61-80: Assigned to Earth. Finds humans interesting but not sure if you like them yet.
81-00: Assigned to Earth. Finds humans to be disgusting, primitive brutes, but will
do your duty to the best of your ability.
71-85: Glory Hound! Chose Earth because you think you can show off here. You think Earth
is inferior, but you like it and the humans very much. You want fame and fortune, but
you’re sincere in your desire to help. You just want credit for it.
86-00: Explorer who came to study Earth and got attached. You like Earth and the humans
very much and you try to be an inspiration and mentor.

Familiarity with Earth (roll d100):
o
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01-20: No familiarity with Earth. -2 to Common Knowledge rolls and can only speak one
Earth language with basic proficiency.
21-60: Some familiarity. No changes, about the same average knowledge locals have. Two
Earth languages fluently.
61-00: Has studied Earth, knows it better than most humans do. +2 to Common Knowledge
rolls and speaks 3 Earth languages fluently and passable in several others.

BIONICS
Bionic super heroes are living people heavily modified by cybernetic implants to improve their abilities,
give them additional amazing talents, or even to fix or counteract flaws. Examples: Cyborg, Cable
1. Step 1: Race. In typical settings, this is human. Ask your GM.
2. Step 2: Super Powers! Roll once on the Major table. In addition, Armor, Super Attribute (Strength
and Agility), Ranged attack, Melee Attack, Heightened Senses and Speed are all automatically
unlocked. The Device mod may not be added to powers. When rolling the Major ability, players are
permitted to reroll with GM’s permission if the rolled ability cannot be flavored as a bionic implant.
In addition, the character may select 5 Strain worth of Cyberware (see SW: SFC) for free (do not
worry about calculating Strain; it is assumed this character can handle it regardless).
3. Step 3: Traits, Edges & Hindrances: All normal for the campaign setting.
4. Step 4: Gear: Normal.
5. Step 5: Background. Special background considerations below:
o Conditions for Bionic Reconstruction (roll d100):
 01-20: Healthy specimen. Motivated by finances or fanaticism.
 21-40: Lost 2-4 limbs to disease or injury.
 41-60: Paraplegic, no hope of recovery.
 61-80: Deteriorating bone/muscle disease, no hope of recovery.
 81-00: Destroyed spine, complete paralysis.
o Sponsoring Organization (roll d100):
 01-25: Medical Research.
 26-50: Private Industry.
 51-70: Secret Organization (roll d100):
 01-20: Military
 21-50: Medical
 51-80: Criminal
 81-00: Crime-fighting
 71-00: Military
o Current Status with Sponsoring Organization (roll d100):
 01-19: Allowed to leave, good relationship.
 20-41: Allowed to leave after conflict, not friendly.
 42-64: Thrown out of program! Hostile towards character.
 65-89: Ran away, hunted by organization for capture.
 90-00: Ran away, considered criminal and/or extremely dangerous. Kill order has
been given.

EXPERIMENT
This category covers a broad range of origins – any character whose powers come from external
experimentation. This could be deliberate (trying to create a super-soldier), unexpected (trying to cure
a disease but getting powers instead), or accidental (being exposed to something that granted you
abilities), but they are generally unique; for whatever reason, the experiment cannot (usually) be
duplicated. Examples: Hulk, Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Captain Atom
1. Step 1: Race. In most settings, this is human. Ask your GM.
2. Step 2: Super Powers! Roll twice on the Major table and twice on the Minor table. You may not add
the Device mod to powers. In addition, roll on the Side Effects chart (roll d100):
o 01-08: Hair growth. All body hair tripled.
o 09-16: Odd skin pigmentation. Roll d100:
 01-10: Two toned, one for underbelly, hands, etc. and darker shade for rest of body.
 11-25: Light green.
 26-40: Pale blue.
 41-55: Stark white or bluish white.
 56-70: Light grey.
 71-85: Pale white.
 86-00: Dark brown.
o 17-24: Odd skin texture; -1 Charisma.
o 25-33: Whole body glows faintly. -4 to Stealth rolls.
o 34-40: Vulnerable to Radiation: -4 to resist Radiation Hazard.
o 41-47: Must physically transform or ingest some external agent to use powers; must select
the “Gimmick” Hindrance as one of the character’s Hindrances. Physical transformation is
obvious; grows larger and skin color changes (roll on previous chart) or must obviously have
access to the external agent (potion, mystic rocks, etc.).
o 48-54: Requires energy for nourishment. Does not eat normal food, but gains Dependency
(Energy) trait.
o 55-63: Increased mass. Proportions are unchanged, but denser. +1 to Toughness but Slow
trait.
o 64-70: Chemical Resistance. +4 to resist Poison Hazard, but is also resistant to medicine,
can’t get drunk, etc.
o 71-77: Does not need air to breathe, but loses all sense of taste and smell (automatically
fails Notice rolls with those senses).
o 78-84: Chronic Pain. -1 Toughness, but doesn’t suffer Wound penalties (can’t hurt any
worse).
o 85-93: Hair permanently falls out.

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94-00: No facial features, including facial hair. Mostly blank face with the tiniest of eyes, slit
for mouth and tiny dots for nose and ears. Infravision, Keen Hearing (+2 Notice with
hearing), but -2 Charisma.
3. Step 3: Traits, Edges & Hindrances, Gear: Due to the unusual (and often negative) side effects of
Experimentation, Experiment characters may take one additional Major hindrance during character
creation (this is on top of the extra one all supers can take as per the Super Karma genre rule).
These provide offsetting bonuses as normal, and in fact Experiments can invoke Super Karma twice
if they take the appropriate number of hindrances.
4. Step 4: Background Details. Roll on the following charts!
o Nature of the Experiment (d100):
 01-25: Chemical.
 26-50: Radiation/Energy.
 51-75: Chemical + Radiation combined!
 75-00: Exposure to unknown influence (meteor, cosmic rays, etc.)!
o General Type of Experiment (d100):
 01-20: Deliberate and successful attempt to create a superpowered individual, but
cannot be duplicated.
 21-50: Accident; impossible to duplicate.
 51-70: Unexpected side effect of other experiment.
 71-00: Deliberate attempt to augment human, but way beyond expected results.
Has not been duplicated yet.
o Sponsoring Organization (d100):
 01-24: Private Industry.
 25-50: Medical Research Facility.
 51-75: Military.
 76-00: Secret Organization, roll d100:
 01-20: Medical
 21-50: Criminal
 51-80: Crime-fighting
 81-00: Military

MAGIC
This category covers heroes whose main source of power is arcane, mystical or occult. Included in this
category are those who cast spells and wield magic directly, as well as those who draw their powers
from a mystical object of some sort and those whose powers were granted to them by a magical source.
Examples: Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange, John Constantine, Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, Witchblade.
1. Step 1: Race. In most settings, this is human, but characters who practice magic might well be
something else. Ask your GM if you can choose something other than human.
2. Step 2: Super Powers! There are four types of Magic heroes. You may choose or roll (d100) which
type your character is:
o 01-25: Enchanted Weapon
o 26-50: Enchanted Object
o 51-75: Mystic Study
o 76-00: Mystically Bestowed
2a: Enchanted Weapon. Weapon magically creates a costume out of thin air when wielded.
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Roll up a Magic Weapon (melee or ranged) using the charts in SW: Fantasy. Treat your first
roll on Table 2B or 3B as a 20.
Roll once on the Major Powers table and twice on the Minor Powers table; powers
automatically have the “Device” feature. You may, with GM’s permission, reroll powers that
cannot easily be flavored into an Enchanted Weapon.

2b: Enchanted Object.
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Roll up a Miscellaneous Item or Magic Armor/Shield using the charts in SW: Fantasy. Treat
your first roll on Table 1C, 1E, or 4A as a 20.
Roll once on the Major Powers table and twice on the Minor Powers table. Powers
automatically have the “Device” Feature.

2c: Mystic Study.
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Super Sorcery, Minions and Animal Control (must choose Animal Companion mod) are
unlocked. You may not add the “Device” feature.
You also have Super Edge unlocked, with the following specific list of Edges to choose from:
Arcane Background: Magic (using normal Power Point rules, no crossover with super
powers), New Power, Power Points, Rapid Recharge, Improved Rapid Recharge, Soul Drain,
Wizard.